Task 3 : Protect against viruses
In today's computing world, installing an ant-virus program is no longer just an option but a necessity. The last time I looked at Symantec website on how many viruses its software is able to detect, the count is at 73,755!! Now that is a lot of viruses out there. And that list will continue to grow.
What is a computer virus? It is a small piece of computer program that will replicate itself (just like a normal virus in our world) and cause harm to the infected computer. Some viruses were written without a malicious intention but merely to replicate itself to other computers. Other viruses were written to be malicious and programmed to destroy data information on your computer.
How does an anti-virus program work? It basically looks at the contents of each file, searching for specific patterns called a virus signature – of something known to be harmful. For each file that matches a signature, the anti-virus program typically tries to repair the file by removing the offending patters, and if not successful, the file would be quarantined. You may then either try to repair the infected file manually (if it is an important file such as an important data file) or delete the file.
An anti-virus is only as good as the number of viruses it is able to detect and intercept before they cause any harm. Therefore it is important to have a recently updated set of virus signature. Otherwise the new viruses will go undetected. When the anti-virus program vendors learn about a new virus, they provide an updated set of virus signatures that include that new virus., which will be available for download automatically by your anti-virus program or downloaded manually.
How does a virus infect your computer? Viruses can reach your computer in many ways, via floppy disks, CD-ROMs, email, web sites, or downloaded files. Virus start from a source, and it is the nature of a virus program to replicate itself onto another target that it comes into contact with. New viruses keep getting more creative and sophisticated in how it replicate itself. In the early days of viruses, they only replicate themselves to external media like a floppy disk, and then the CD. Later they become more sophisticated that they even know how to email itself to others. This category of virus would search your email address book for a list of email addresses. Then it would create an email for each of these addresses and send it with an attachment of itself. When a recipient receive and open up the attachment, his/her computer gets infected. And the whole process repeats itself, unless of course it was first intercepted by its anti-virus program which deletes the virus before it could cause any harm.
Side Note: Viruses that email themselves to others are smart enough to use your email address as the sender address. So when others receive the email would think it came from you, a trusted source, and may not think too much about opening the attachments. Therefore even if it seems like the email comes from someone you know, and it has an unsolicited attachment, be wary about opening it. If in doubt, check it with sender before opening.
As I have mentioned earlier, an anti-virus program is a necessity and not an option these days. Hence it is a worthwhile investment. If your financial resources are limited, there are free editions that you can download and install.
Note: I have not personally tested these products. They are only listed here for your info, should you be interested in exploring them).
Free Edition Anti-Virus programs :
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